I will be an Exorcist!
by NeonZangetsu
Summary: Chosen by God, an excorist is sworn to hunt akuma until his last breath. Alas, one lonely, forsaken exorcist can think of nothing BUT killing Akuma. Will this bloodlust be his undoing? Or perhaps, his salvation? D.gray man x-over, pairing undecided. VOTE!
1. Prologue: Sayonara

_Akuma. They are demons, but we cannot see them unless they choose to reveal themselves. They hide amongst us in human guise, waering the skin of the loved one who cried out for them, the one they have been ordered to kill, becoming the very thing they detest. An Akuma is created from sorrow, and the Millenium Earl. That sorrow leads to despair, and that despair gives birth to an Akuma, at the Earl's hands. _

_In order to break this endless cycle of hatred and despair..._

_Every Akuma must be destroyed._

_~Marian Cross._

_--_

"Iruka Nii-san!"

The man quietly turned away from the kitchen door, towards a young boy with blond hair and blue eyes. He couldn't be more than thirteen, maybe fourteen at best. The youth eagerly pushed a present into his hands, his own covered with bandages, recent evdient of papercuts.

"Happy Birthday!" He grinned. "I wrapped it myself!"

The man known as Iruka, stared at the gift in his hands, blankly, as if he didn't see anything there. Suddenly, he smiled. A wide, grotesque smile, stretching at the corners of his face, making his eyes widen. He was trembling now, clamping a hand over his mouth as if he found something incredibly funny about all this.

"Arigatou, Naruto-kun."

"N-Nii-san?"

Without warning, Iruka began to _laugh_.

"N-Nii-san, what's wrong?!"

In reply, Iruka's skin abruptly turned a hideous clay grey, and his back began to bulge, forcing his body to hunch over as a series of spiked protrusions emerged, stabbing their way through the flesh as he ascended into the air, losing any trace of its humanity as a monstrous entity emerged with a series of wet squishing sounds.

Now, the only vaguely human feature that remained was his face, and even that was covered in the thick black substance, the eyes glaring motionlessly down at their target. The bulbous, spiked body covered everything else. No, they were cannons', the boy realized as the spikes made a clicking sound, pointed themselves forward.

Towards him.

_'N-NO!'_

The boy screamed and threw up his arms to defend himself as the flash of purple light engulfed him. A loud _bang_ filled his ears, then another, and another, and another still, but there was no pain to be felt. Startled, he glanced down at himself. He was standing amongst the rubble of their ruined house, completely unharmed, and yet....

_'Huh?'_

Red. His hands were turning _red_. Sapphire blue eyes widened inexplicably at the sight. His entire body was covered in a red aura-like glow, and it was stemming from his wrists. As he looked on in a mix of horror and awe, that aura took on the silhouette of a fox, shielding him, protecting him, defending him from another hail of bullets, shattering them before they could reach his skin.

The demon gave a wailing shriek and rushed forward, as if to ram the boy. It met an invisible wall, the impact of which threw it backwards into the air, where it remained, hovering with malicious intent.

As the red light reached the boy's shoulders, his limbs bore the brunt of the change. They _grew_, hardened, lengthened, extended, the fingers morphing, becoming...something else. The pain was excruciating, and it was everywhere. His arms felt as if they were being pricked with a thousand needles, his body stabbed with a hundred knives. Finally, his hands were little more than wickedly curved claws.

At his elbows and wrists, he sported a set of blades, set into the joints, moving whenever he moved the arm. His knee caps and thighs had suffered the same transformation as well, the steel molding perfectly into his flesh. Unbidden, his right foot suddenly inched forward.

Then his left.

The monster fired another hail of bullets, but they too, turned to ash upon striking the strange barrier that had engulfed the boy.

"W-What's happening to me?!"

Helpless to do anything other than stare at the abomination big brother Iruka had become, the boy was horrified to discover that his body was actually _moving towards the monster_. Of its own accord, his body dragged itself forward, step by step. His hands screamed and burned from the agony, but he couldn't scream, he could barely even _breathe._

"Nii-san....RUN!"

Red eyes glassed over with tears as he realized what was about to happen. He couldn't control his body anymore, to do so was entirely beyond him now. His hands, feet, his entire _form_ moved on its own, leaping into the air, landing atop it, seizing the creature's bulbous form with the claws, lowering his fangs to the deformed face. _Stop! Stopstopstopstop STOP! _But it didn't stop, it never stopped. The cloak continued to move his limbs like a puppeterr would a puppet, ripping, tearing, shredding at the demon.

"Kill me..." It gasped suddenly, the words little more then a whisper. "Kill....me....

"N-No! I-I can't stop myself! You have to run! Run away!"

The deformed face changed suddenly, forming a sad smile. It couldn't speak, not anymore, but it formed the words with its cracked lips, slowly, carefully, even as the claw drew near.

"Little brother, I love you. Please...destroy me."

_"Noooooooooo!"_

The hand descended and the thing that Iruka had become, shuddered as it was rent in two. The severed halves began to spasm violently, jerking, twitching as they collapsed to the streets, where it writhed in agony. Finally, it uttered one last, keening wail....then was no more.

Warding off the explosion with one arm, N

Its task accomplished, the strange device evaporated. Satisfied, _sated,_ it returned to the boy's flesh, leaving its host to stare blankly at the spot of the massacre, his eyes pooling over with helpless tears.

"What was that...? What did I...How did I....What's going on?!"

His answer came in the form of someone draping a coat over his shoulders.

"That creature...was an akuma. They are creatures, human weapons created by the Earl of the Millennium. Once transformed, they cannot be saved, only destroyed. Those who fight them, destroy them, as you have just done, are called exorcists. Only they, those who hold the power of Innocence, can fight the demons."

"Nani?"

Standing behind him, was a man. He was an elderly fellow, who wore a black coat made of gold buttons and a star. His face was kind, just like Nii-san's, and his eyes seemed to hide unfathomable pain. He was the one who had placed the hand on his shoulder, draped the cloak over him.

"Boy...Won't you become an excorcist?"

Naruto blinked, slowly, turning his gaze away from the man, back to the scorched crater he had created. His mind still struggled to overcome the shock of it all. Watching his brother mutate before his eyes, transform into that, that thing....

"Ex-orcist? They....fight these _Akuma_ things? With..._Innocence?"_

"That's correct. An Akuma is created from human sorrow, and the Millennium Earl uses that sorrow to create an Akuma. Your brother grieved over the death of your father, but at the same time, loathed himself for being unable to raise you. And as I feared, the Earl paid him a visit."

The boy had been sniffling throughout this explanation. Now, he was sobbing into his hands, giving absolutely no indication that he had even heard the man speaking at all. But as the white haired man finished, the boy removed his tear soaked face from his palms and at last, _he_ spoke.

"What's your name, jiji(Old man)?"

"My name?" The man smiled then, and this time, it actually reached his eyes. It was a kind smile, filled with warmth, kindness, compassion. "My name is Yeegar. I am an exorcist, a general for the Dark Order." Reaching forward, he tapped the boy's chest with one finger." Don't _you_ have a name, young one?"

"Na-Naruto." The boy stammered tearfully. "Naruto Uzumaki."

Yeegar still smiled and extended his hand to the boy.

"Well then, Naruto-kun, you look like you haven't had breakfast yet." Naruto took the hand and followed his gaze. He saw that Yeegar was staring at a horse drawn carriage, manned by three men in tan robes with hoods covering their faces. At the same time, the pleasant aroma of eggs and bacon wafted from the coach. "Shall I make you some?"

_'A-Ah! I't smell so good!'_

Despite the planitive cries of his stomach and heart, the youth forced a flinty smile. This guy seemed nice, he wanted to believe that he was telling the truth, no matter how impossilbe it seemed. But what did he have to gain by staying here? Now that Iruka Nii-san was gone, he didn't have anywhere else to go. There house had been destroyed during the explosion. And ever since Tou-san had died, they'd both been treated like outcasts, forced to scrunge for leftovers in the garbage. With papa and now Iruka Nii-san gone, Naruto had no reason to stay here.

"I'd....like that. And being an exorcist...that sounds good to."

Yeegar, who had been leading the boy towards the carriage this entire time, now nodded and opened the door for him. The smell of breakfast as enough to make Naruto salivate. Yeegar's amused chuckle confirmed this.

"Well then, let's be off, shall we?"

Naruto set one foot on the step, but hesitated for another moment. It wasn't that he didn't trust general Yeegar, its just...He'd lived here his whole entire life! And...and...

_"You can't always rely on me or yourself. Sometimes we need help. And, if you ever find someone who you believe will do so, do everything in your power to keep them safe as well."_

That's right. Yeegar-san wasn't his enemy. The Akuma were his enemy. The Akuma-no, the Earl, he was the one who had taken Iruka Nii-san away from him. For that, he'd get revenge. For that, he'd kill the Earl. It was simple, or so he thought.

"We're we headed to anyways?"

"Why, headquarters of course." Yeegar replied. "Don't worry, I'm sure you'll like it there. Actually, a girl there about your age was taken there only last month. Like you, she's been quite lonely. I'm sure the two of you would get along just fine, don't you?"

"Someone...my age? Really?"Naruto didn't have to force a smile this time. He'd never had any friends before. He'd been shunned by everyone, with only Iruka Nii-san to take care of him. Making a few friends now was more exciting that anything. With that in mind, he pulled himself into the carriage, and gripped the handle.

_'Arigatou, Iruka Nii-san....I'll remember those words. Believe it.'_

And though this door to his old life forever closed behind him, a new one now opened, leading to his future.


	2. Innocence

**Alright, for those of you who are curious, lemme give you a better description of Naruto's innocence. When activated, his hands, that is fingers, become scythes, much like Fou's when she fought the level three akuma. The difference here is that he also has blades on his elbows (Reminiscent of Grimmjow's Resureccion but twice as long) as well as on the thigh, just under his knee caps.**

"Eh?" Naruto stared up at the massive spire that overshadowed them, reaching up as if to pierce the moon above. "This...

"Quite." Yeegar patted his newest charge on the head. "This is your new home, Naruto-kun."

--

If the outside appeared intimidating, then the inside was anything but. Men and women in white lab coats, Technicians, Yeegar called them, bustled about, muttering their obscure findings and other meaningless babble that Naruto couldn't bring himself to understand. It was a constant state of activity, no paused to even spare him a glance as he was escorted down the halls.

Then he saw them. There were men wearing black cloaks, comingling amongst those in the white. But unlike their comrades, these men were escorting groups of _people_, ranging from their thirteen to twenty, down the corridors. They kept a tight perimeter around them, almost as if they were afraid that their charges would try to escape.

No wonder all of them looked scared shitless.

Naruto caught sight of two of them, one of the teenagers in the foremost group, and another, standing off to the left, away from the main group. The first had his hair back in a ponytail, so he stood out right away. He noticed Naruto, and lazily raised a hand in greeting, even going so for as to nod minutely in the blonde's direction before he was whisked off around the corner. The other, wasn't quite so kind. Despite the fact that one of the technician's seemed to be trying to talk to him, this youth had his arms crossed, head down, an unreadable look on his face.

The very _instant _he noticed Naruto, the boy's eyes, an ugly coal black, widened, as if in disbelief.

"You?!"

Then, they narrowed into a glare of intense hatred, so fierce that it actually felt tangible, despite the distance seperating them. The boy took a step forward, made as if to say something more, but white coated man immediately placed an arm before the raven haired youth, and before either could utter a word, silently whisked him away into one of the many doors that lined the circular walls leading doward to the basement.

"Potential candidates." Yeeger explained darkly, noting how Naruto had flinched away from the glare. "Those who will be exposed to an Innocence fragment, thusly determining whether or not they can become an excorcist. Do not mistake that they have come here of their own volition, however. These boys and girls have a far darker fate than any you could ever imagine."

Naruto didn't answer. He still couldn't get that boy, or the piercing glare, out of his head. Why did he feel so cold all of a sudden? Why had that stare filled him with an impenetrable sense of self loathing? Just who was this kid?

--

"So, how do you feel?"

_"Sore." _Naruto gasped, squinting his eyes open to see, struggling to push himself upward off the hospital bed. "It feels like my intestines just got turned inside out and put in ass backwards." Now that his Innocence had actually been given a set shape, Yeegar realized it was much more refined, though not immediately recognizeable. A series of black, flame like tattoo's covered both Naruto's arms, running from the wrists to shoulders, where they each flared off into a rotund looking cross.

Those tattoo's were now throbbing a bright orange, almost as if they were glowing. But at the same time, slowly, they began to ebb away, leaving the boy with two slitted cross symbols on either wrist.

"Naruto, do you understand your Innocence? I believe Hevaleska explained it to you, but you weren't listening then, were you?"

"S-Sumimasen." The blond made no attempt to hide his charign as he shuddered, and Yeegar chuckled at the sight of it. Few, if _any_ excorcists could emerge unscathed after having their Innocence examined by Hevaleska. _Yeegar's _experience had been just as discconcerting some forty years ago, and the memory of it was still as fresh as yesterday for him. A young whelp such as Naruto would remember this for a long while.

Best to distract him, then.

Now, the General held up two fingers to emphasize his point.

"Naruto-kun, listen carefully. You're Innocence is not a parastic type, nor is it an equip type. Rather, its something entirely opposite to an equip type, as it does not harm your body, yet maintains a will of its own, much like a parasite. You see, your Innocence is...symbiotic."

"Nani?"

"Here, allow me to demonstrate." Yeegar stepped forward and placed one hand upon the boy's shoulder. Nothing, no reaction, and the boy blinked slowly as the general continued. "You see, when there is no impending threat to your body, and therefore no desire to activate, your Innocence would lay dormant, until it was needed. However,"

"Jiji?"

Now, Yeegar stepped back, and reached into his coat pocket. He pulled out a slim, black pen, and uncapped its tip. Pointing it towards Naruto, the former teacher continued with his lecture, bringing his arm back, as if to throw.

"If there were a sudden impending threat to your well being...

"Eh? What're you...you're not gonna...EH?!"

Too late, the pen was already whisking towards him at an insane velocity, aimed to impact right between the eyes, where it would surely drill itself home and into his skull.

It didn't get very far.

"Whoa?!" Naruto yelped, as the protective red aura engulfed his body, a extension of his hand, created from the aura automatically lashing out to snag the pen in midflight, before breaking it in half a moment later. "What the...what the hell did I just do?! My body just moved by itself!"

"Precisely. Specifically, your type of Innocence works _with_your body, not against it, as a parastic type would, draining your body's energy until you collapsed. A symbiotic Innocence is a rarity among rarities, Naruto-kun. It feeds off any excess energy, and can, in some cases, act independently of its wielder. Symbiotic types are extraordinarly rare. In fact, you're only the second known excorcist to have one."

"Who's the first?" Naruto blinked.

"It's a secret. Now, catch!"

"OI!"

Immediately, the red aura dropped, as if it did not consider the offending object now tossed Naruto's way, a threat. The teenager fumbled with the object for a few moments, trying not to drop it, or muss the . Now, he held in his hands, a long, dark orante coat, as slim as he was tall, with silver markings, his name emblazoned on the underside of the buttons, completed by a hood.

"What's this?"

Yeegar's smile filled Naruto with warmth.

"You're going to be an exorcist, aren't you boy? Then you'll be needing that. Go ahead, put it on. Once you do, there's someone I would like you to meet, if you don't mind."

Eager as ever, Naruto turned his sparkling sapphire eyes towards Yeegar.

"Who?"

--

...Can't...allow...in...

...Says...you...listen!

The muffled sound of an argument could be heard from behind the door. She could hear Leverrier-sama's voice, but he appeared to be speaking with another individual, the latter's voice more heated and infuriated then the ever nonchalant tone of the inspector's. Suddenly, Leverrier's voiced died away, and at the same time, there was a wet squelching sound, punctuated by a gasp of surprise, and ending with the sharp, crisp footfall of the inspector, fading down the hallway.

There was a faint groan, and finally, the door opened.

"You heard all that, huh? Gomen."

She blinked, slowly, confusion filling her eyes and heart as he crossed the distance to her bedside. That coat? An exorcist? Here? But he looked so young! He had blond hair, she could see it peeking out of the cowl, but couldn't quite make out the rest of his visage, as his hood was up, only allowing her to peer into the shadows that obscured the upper half of his face.

He smiled, kneeling down before her bed. Slowly, he reached a gloved hand to his hood. As it came away she gasped. He _was_ young. Maybe a year or so ahead of her at best, and, judging by the enthusiastic sparkle in his eyes, most certainly new to the Black Order. Shaggy blond hair hung forward into those eyes, shading them from the harsh artificial light of the containment room.

"Nice to meet you." He extended a hand, obviously not noticing the fact that hers were currently chained down to the bed. "My name's Naruto."

Again, she made no reply. She only closed her eyes and exhaled softly.

"Um...yeah." Unsure of what to do or say, and with little to no experience in this regard, Naruto was left at a loss. He knew he had to always be polite to girls, Iruka Nii-san had drilled that into him on an almost constant basis. But even, so, Naruto now found himself heading for the door, as if the rejection was something that happened every day. "Well, if you don't want to talk then,"

He had _just_ begun to close the door behind him, when he heard it.

"Lenalee."

"Eh?" Naruto paused, and glanced back to the girl who still hadn't budged an inch. After all, how could she? She was practically chained down to the bed, after all, so how could she have moved? "Did you say something?"

"Lenalee." She repeated once more, louder this time, ending with a small sob. Her gaze, formerly fixated on the ceiling, now finding his, boring into him with a startling intensity. "That's my name." Her eyes were violet, he realized, opening the door, turning to face her fully. A pretty color, he realized, and one filled with sadness.

"Ano....

"No one's ever bothered to talk to me before." She continued hastily, staring up at him as he approached, unable to do anything else. "And when they did, it was only to tell me that I was going to spend the rest of my life here, with no hope of ever escaping. I thought you'd do the same."

"Huh?" Naruto blinked in surprise. "You've tried to escape?" Why would anyone want to do that? Everyone was so nice here, the food was incredible, and you even had a warm bed to sleep in! Lenalee....wanted to escape from all that? "Why would an exorcist do that?"

She blinked in surprise.

"You're...a _new_ exorcist?"

"Yeah!" Naruto beamed, rolling up the sleeve of his coat to expose the tatooed bangle. "See?"

"So am I." She didn't smile but her words held just a trace of warmth. "Inspector Leverrier instructed the Finders to keep me chained to this bed, in order to prevent me from escaping." A small noise of confusion escaped her lips when the boy rocked back on his heels. "

"Well, he definitely acts like a prick." Narutp reached up to his hair now, parting it. Revealed, was an ugly black mark where his left eye was, a sure sign that someone had socked him one with an overly large fist. "He gave me a hard time about coming in here, so I decided to punch his lights out for it. Problem is, he hits pretty hard himself, and now I've got this shiner."

"You...actually hut him?" Despite herself, Lenalee actually _giggled_. This exorcist was like the others, or rather, the few that she had met. Most excorcists were either gruff, or outright brutal in their disposition. "Sorry, but that's just...funny."

"You've been chained to the bed...all day?" Naruto interrupted suddenly

"Hai...I...?"

"Activate." The blond muttered, the red light flaring into existence, rolling off his wrists and into his arms like oily black water. There was a tearing pop, followed by a wince, a grunt, and the boy now brandished scythes for hands, right where the wrists and fingers should have begun. Flexing his new appendages, he turned towards Lenalee, watching silently as her eyes grew wide.

_'That has to be a parastic type. But I've never seen one like this....a symbiotic then?'_

"Please hold still, Lenalee-san."

"!!"

There was the faintest rush of wind, as he uncrossed his arms and stood straight. "There. That oughta do it, neh?" With a sharp snapping sound, the chains suddenly shattered, leaving Lenalee to stare in awe as the broken links fell to the floor. All that remained were the shackles, and then they too, crumbled into dust. Rubbing her wrists, she gave him a teary, enthused smile.

"Arigatou."

Naruto shrugged, creating the faintest of rustling sounds as his Innocence scythes brushed against one another. His claws clacked together, creating an almost rhythmic hum as they dissolved back into his body, leaving him with tattered sleeves, but an otherwise intact coat.

"Nah, it was nothing-OOF!" The reason for his startled cries were simple. Lenalee had tackled him in a flying glomp.

"OI!"

--

(One Embarassing moment later)

"Jiji!" A loud knock at the door, accompanied by the boy's voice, was more than enough to confirm the speaker's identity, but he still enjoyed the slight tone of exasperation that came with it. "I'm coming in!"

"Oh?" General Yeegar looked up from his desk, and his cup of piping hot tea, greeting the two teenagers, with a warm smile, as the latter was more timid and than her blond companion, and as such, was currently hiding behind him. "It seems you've met Lenalee-chan, Naruto-kun." Arching an eyebrow at the peculiar sight of her hiding behind Naruto, the general could not help himself. "She seems to be quite attached to you, no?"

Naruto turned a bright shade of crimson, and Lenalee gave a small squeak before turning an equally bright shade of pink. Of course, this only exacerbated the situation further, as Naruto was now conviced that Yeegar had upset his new friend in some way, when in reality, Lenalee was really just to embarassed to have any possiblity of thinking straight..

"Jiji! What the hell'd you go and say that for?!"

Though Yeegar smiled, it did not reach his eyes, not this time. _'I cannot allow these children to be manipulated by Leverrier. The Order has taken a great interest in the abilities of these he has his way with them...No, I cannot, will not, allow such an event to happen again. They are our future, they musn't be thrown away like pawns on a battlefield!'_

"Gomenosai, Gomenosai. I did not mean to upset you, Naruto-kun, Lenalee-chan."

Rising from his desk, Yeegar beckoned to them.

"Come, come, let's go meet the new exorcists, shall we?"

**_Next time: Meeting the gang! A new generation of excorcists!_**


End file.
